It is intended to provide MSCs for transplantation that have an improved post-transplantation cell survival rate and engraftment rate and are highly safe with fewer adverse reactions, and a method for conveniently producing MSCs for transplantation having a high cell survival rate and engraftment rate. As means therefor, the present invention provides a stem cell for transplantation comprising an MSC capable of overexpressing IL-10.

Provided are activatable proprotein or procytokine homodimers composed of at least two separate polypeptide chains, each chain comprising a binding moiety such as an Fc region, a cytokine, a cytokine receptor, and at least one a cleavable linker, among other optional features, and related pharmaceutical compositions and methods of use thereof.

Provided are various embodiments relating to compositions and methods for treating vascular disease, including core NOX1 promoters and variants thereof for regulating expression of transgenes in response to vascular pathology and allowing for increased transgene loading capacity. Also provided are variant FOXP polypeptides having a zinc finger and leucine zipper region of a different FOXP polypeptide. Further provided are vectors comprising the core NOX1 promoters and/or a coding sequence for variant FOXP polypeptides described herein and optionally coding sequence(s) for one or more additional therapeutic polypeptide(s), such as IL10, for treating inflammation-associated diseases, such as vascular disease. Also provided is a screening model for testing therapeutic agents capable of treating established and ongoing atherosclerotic pathology.

The current disclosure provides microorganisms, such as lactic acid bacteria (e.g., Lactococcus lactis) containing an exogenous nucleic acid encoding an IL-10 polypeptide and an exogenous nucleic acid encoding a T1D-specific antigen (e.g., a proinsulin) polypeptide, wherein both exogenous nucleic acids are integrated into the bacterial chromosome. Such microbial strains are suitable for human therapy. The disclosure further provides compositions (e.g., pharmaceutical compositions) methods of using the microorganisms and compositions, e.g., for the treatment of type 1 diabetes (T1D), including those with residual beta-cell function, e.g., recent-onset T1D. The microorganism may be administered orally, delivers the microorganism into the gastrointestinal tract, where it is released and expresses the bioactive polypeptides, The methods of the present disclosure are particularly well suited for subjects possessing residual beta-cell function, e.g., for subjects with recent-onset T1D.

The present disclosure provides T-cell modulatory multimeric polypeptides (T-Cell-MMP) and their epitope conjugates comprising at least one immunomodulatory polypeptide (“MOD”) that may be selected to exhibit reduced binding affinity to a cognate co-immunomodulatory polypeptide (“Co-MOD”). The epitope may be, for example, a cancer-associated epitope, an infectious disease-associated epitope, or a self-epitope. The T-Cell-MMP-epitope conjugates are useful for modulating the activity of a T-cell by delivering immunomodulatory peptides, such as IL-2 or IL-2 variants that exhibit reduced binding affinity for the IL-2R, to T-cells in an epitope selective/specific manner, and accordingly, for treating individuals with a cancer, infectious disease or autoimmune disorder.

The invention provides compositions and methods for modulating the immunostimulatory properties and/or anti-inflammatory properties of IL-10. The present invention provides scIL-10 polypeptides of Formula 1. The polypeptides of the invention are optionally linked to a fusion partner. The polypeptides of Formula 1 are referred to herein as “scIL-10” polypeptides and comprise an amino acid sequence arrangement from N-terminus to C-terminus in accordance with Formula 1:
(first monomer subunit)-LINKER-(second monomer subunit)   Formula 1
wherein the first monomer subunit, the second monomer subunit or both the first and second monomer subunits may be independently selected from: an unsubstituted IL-10 monomer subunit; or a substituted IL-10 monomer subunit comprising at least one amino acid substitution; and wherein LINKER is any amino acid linker of at least 1-100 amino acids in length.

Provided herein, in some embodiments, are artificial secretion peptides capable of directing secretion from Lactobacillus for use, for example, in producing heterologous proteins, including therapeutic proteins.

The present disclosure relates to genetically modified non-human animals that express a human or chimeric (e.g., humanized) IL10R and/or a human or chimeric (e.g., humanized) IL10, and methods of use thereof.

The present disclosure relates to new agents useful for anti-cancer therapy such as anti-cancer adoptive T-cell transfer (ACT) immunotherapy or immune check-point blockade therapy and related compositions, uses and methods thereof.

The present disclosure provides T-cell modulatory multimeric polypeptides (T-Cell-MMP) and their epitope conjugates comprising at least one immunomodulatory polypeptide (“MOD”) that may be selected to exhibit reduced binding affinity to a cognate co-immunomodulatory polypeptide (“Co-MOD”). The epitope may be, for example, a cancer-associated epitope, an infectious disease-associated epitope, or a self-epitope. The T-Cell-MMP-epitope conjugates are useful for modulating the activity of a T-cell by delivering immunomodulatory peptides, such as IL-2 or IL-2 variants that exhibit reduced binding affinity for the IL-2R, to T-cells in an epitope selective/specific manner, and accordingly, for treating individuals with a cancer, infectious disease or autoimmune disorder.